"The Wild Heart" album discussion podcast
 

Hey all,

For those who are interested we had a two and a half hour discussion about "The Wild Heart" last night on my Phonogenics 101 podcast - of course all opinions are subjective. Had a blast thanks to those who joined me!

https://youtu.be/szEBBogOmyw

Good work! I have a feeling you'll hear from Stevie's people. You deserve to!

I nominate Mitzo, if he would consider it. I bet he has things to say about that album (and tour) that many of us either never thought of or don’t remember. Same holds for Michele and blackcat. It was my favorite tour by far of the Nicks corpus. Love was in the air.

Thanks but I thought Unwinded Dreams was saying that people working with Stevie herself should contact Jeremy and the commentators?

I personally love the album, see it as a quantum leap ahead from BD, and get tingles whenever I hear the first bars of some of the tracks.

BTW aren't at least two of the people in the Youtube vid with Jeremy actually here on the ledge? Is one of them me?

Stevie's people should contact Jeremy and set it up so Stevie can join his program. Jeremy does a fantastic job.
If you were in the video, you did wonderfully too!

That'll be me (Roland) . :nod:

Longtime Stevie/FM fan, and on 'the other side of the mirror', an art history/history writer. :wavey:

https://madeglobal.com/authors/roland-hui/

https://twitter.com/tudorfaces

I was one of the five to do the podcast. I had a blast and had a chance to tell some very personal stories. Thank you Jeremy for having me on. Having Stevie join us would be fun and very overwhelming for me but it would exceedingly unlikely she would even consider it. I thought the flow of this podcast went very well and I am looking forward to Rock A Little.

Hello to both Greendaze5 Roland, and to J Miller. I was not on the video panel but really enjoyed your commentary. I am a bit shy to do it but I may join next time.

Come on in Mitzo don’t be shy. I am shy too and I got a few things off my chest that I have been wanting to say.

:wavey: The chat on 'Rock a Little' will be in early March.

Do join in if you can. Just contact Jeremy for details.

I want to join one of these! Really enjoyed the two that have been done so far.

I remember receiving the cassette version of “The Wild Heart” as a Christmas gift in the early 90s. I was so excited to open it and listen to it.

I think it has some of Stevie’s best vocals. It’s a bridge between her more disciplined singing with Fleetwood Mac and on Bella Donna, and the truly unhinged era she would enter with Rock a Little. At the same time, she was still hitting some of those high falsetto notes that I love (eg on the title track) — the last time she would, really, until Trouble In Shangri-La.

It’s that title track I love best, along with “I Will Run To You” (yes!) and “Nightbird.” This album is the one I return to most, along with Rock a Little.

I can't wait for "Rock A Little" and I really can't wait for my beloved (for sentimental value mostly) "Street Angel" !!!

Was there no discussion of Rock a Little on Youtube?

That'll be early next week I think.

I hope you do the panel for Rock a Little, Mitzo!

And I hope you guys will be there too.

"Rock A Little" is Tuesday at 8 pm Eastern! Anyone who isn't already on the list email me at [email protected] to get the info! See you all on Tuesday!

I agree with you about this. The received wisdom is that BD is her crowning achievement, but in terms of a solo statement, TWH is far more convincing. The sound is more unified, the vocals more assured, and most of the songs appear to have been written around the time of its making. Some of the arrangements are a bit precious by comparison to those on BD, but the overall vibe is one of genuine emotional commitment. Stevie holds nothing back here. She’s all in on every song. Whatever she has to give is lavishly spent.

I even love the silly sleeve design. That florid cursive lettering, the pinks and mauves and purples, the preponderance of ellipses...all of this suggests the world of unicorns, leotards, paper flowers, and canopied beds. She goes all in without apology. Whatever Fleetwood Mac vetoed or tempered has been released and runs amuck.

When the album came out, I asked my brother to get it for me on one of his trips to the mall with his pals. He was embarrassed to be seen buying something so girly. But I was a boy who didn’t give a f...k. She was too good then to ignore, too urgent to dismiss. And she’s knew it.

By comparison, RAL is seriously disappointing.

TWH is really good. It is. But the masterpiece is BD.

When I'm eventually banished to a desert island for my remaining years, with however many albums I'm allowed to bring, Bella Donna will be there. TWH won't make the cut. BD is GREATNESS.

Old thing should have had her trailer hitch WELDED to Jimmy Iovine's bumper!

100% Agree. Bella Donna is flawless. The Wild Heart is just good. TWH could be improved in so many ways. You cant say that about Bella Donna.
Let me count the ways:
Title track is good but not as good as BD. The version on the deluxe release is so much better. Its faster paced and more rocking. Plus WTF Jimmy Iovine with that weird ending. They definitely wanted a more easy listening version.
If Anyone Falls - would not change it
Gate and Garden - probably her best vocal of any song ever. She hits the highest notes and Roy's playing is his most brilliant but I hate the song. Hate it! I see why it made the album because of Roy and Stevie's singing but its one of my least favorites. Replace it with the deluxe version of I sing for the things. A third video and releasing Enchanted, I will run to you, or Nothing Ever Changes would have prolonged the album on the charts.
Enchanted - would not change it
Nightbird - Good grief those cheezy 80s keyboards in the beginning sounds like some microwaving cats. Scrap it and replace it with All the beautiful worlds
Stand Back - would not change it
I will run to you - ok but I think Tom could have submitted a better song
Nothing Ever Changes - one of my favorites no changes
Sable on Blonde - scrap Mick. The deluxe version is so good in the beginning. The song should have been a mix between the 2 songs. Her deluxe version is so freaking good.
Beauty and the Beast ok

The guitar took a back seat compared to Bella Donna where guitars were the showcase. It was now well into the 80s which was common to have more keyboards. Nothing killed this album faster than Nightbird as a single. No one understood it and its just not a catchy single. It was almost like they said, the tour is over so lets kill the album. Releasing Enchanted or I Will Run To You or Nothing Ever Changes with a video would have extended the album's run.

Great insights.

I must confess that I’ve never seen the “masterpiece” in Bella Donna. It sounds like either sloggy Nashville or Heartbreakers B-sides. The only reason I like it is because Stevie is on it (although I guess I could say that about all her albums).

BD has mostly forgettable songs and horrible production. She had so many brilliant demos by then and had the chance to make a mindblowing album and, no. The attempt at "rock" and the Heartbreakers influence really flatten and deaden her talent.

You're just a ray of sunshine. :lol:

BD is her masterpiece to me, because it sounds like the Eagles are her backing band. BD is perfection! The Highwayman!

Highwayman. Now I know for sure you are joking.

How Still My Love, E of 17, and Outside the Rain. That's it, the rest is filler.

MacMan must be a brother from another mother because I would've written pretty close to the same about the Wild Heart, especially the beloved Gate and Garden. Wow, what a vocal, and in hindsight amazing that this moment was captured. She has never ever, sounded this good on a solo song- the song itself is bad but what a vocal!

Sable on Blond also, good idea on a mash up- that intro on the deluxe, just oozing sexiness and better without Mick's Dreams 2.0.

While we're on the topic, that killer Sorcerer outtake- woozier!

Hard to top Bella Donna but the Wild Heart came damn close. I don't think I felt the same vibe until In your Dreams (which I love, but doesn't have the same lasting effect.

I'll bet you hate real country music with a passion?

The Highwayman and After The Glitter Fades are at the top of my list. I love both.

MacMan?! I haven't seen that sweet Avatar of Stevie blowing a kiss in forever!

You meant Macfan4life?

MacMan Peter! Whatever happened to MacMan?

If you put a gun to my head I could not decide which version of Sable on Blonde is better. The deluxe version is so great in the beginning how the song builds and then the drums crack in and the song is at a new level. However it needs editing because the ending is too long. The album version is better towards the end and is a slightly better vocal.

Although I don't think Wild Heart is as good as BD its frustrating to me because it could have been a better album. I would have to disagree with you that TWH came close to Bella Donna. IMHO, it falls short in many areas. This is one of the few times I agree with the majority of critics and album sales. They did not love TWH as much as BD and it sold less which is odd considering the video era TWH was released in.
Most important is The Wild Heart is the last vocals of Stevie's career before cocaine and the hole in her nose ruined her voice. Even the WH tour her vocals were not the same.

She had such amazing material still in her collection. It blows my mind that Sleeping Angel was a demo since 1976 and never found its way on a Stevie solo or Mac album and given to a movie soundtrack to almost get lost. I also would have liked Garbo to be included on the album if you could have 11 or 12 songs. The album so desperately needed an acoustic guitar somewhere.

I actually like the album cover of the WH better than Bella Donna but BD is in a league of its own. Not only is it my favorite Stevie album but I think its one of the best albums of the 80s decade. Having said that, IMHO RAL is one of the worst albums of the 80's.

Long story short, THW is in the winners circle but I leave with too many frustrations over what could have been and the singles released and what was excluded from the album. The title song Bella Donna is epic. Its a lyrically masterpiece and the music is wonderful in so much building and breaking over and over. It sets the tone of the album. The title track Wild Heart is meh.... superb vocal but the piano sounds so amateur. It does not yield the power Bella Donna had. However listening to the deluxe version I hear what could have been. Clearly the deluxe version needed work. Her vocal almost seems rushed but it has power, something the album cut does not have. And as I said, good grief that ending is so dumb. An epic song does not have a fade out especially when the vocalist is getting louder. Its almost like Jimmy had no idea how to end the song so he just faded it out. He was in a rush to go to lunch or something?

Hey MacFan (eyes played tricks on me- saw MacMac LOL)
Sleeping Angel, my god what a beautiful song and an excellent replacement for either Nightbird or I will Run to You, it did not deserve obscurity on a throwaway movie soundtrack. She also should've found room for Garbo and All the Beautiful Worlds and it would've raised the bar considerably for the Wild Heart. As for the title track, like Gate and Garden, the awesome vocal makes up for any arrangement or lyrical flubs.

Glad we have this wonderful singing captured forever from Stevie, it was never the same after this. And Rock a Little, that's a whole other story isn't it :laugh:

I agree. HSML and E of 17, for sure (plus the title song and SDMHA) and that’s it. I’m not even convinced by OTR.

SDMHA is far too Tom Petty and does not suit Stevie's voice. The title track could have been something but is ruined by awful instrumentation and arrangement.

And yet some of us think it's great.

"Disgruntled, party of one!":woohoo:

I still remember when Steve Simels, in his Stereo Review column, referred to this song as “the parts Tom Petty wisely left out of his great ‘Refugee.’ ”

I’ve always liked the lyric here because it seemed a lot more genuine than Stevie’s typical approach. I don’t think the song musically is awful, but it has the modern Nashville arrangement I usually steer clear of in other artists. It was the sort of modern country style that Albert Goldman put down in his review of Rumours, when he wrote that that album sounds like real mountain music from coal-mining country instead of like Glen Campbell and Kenny Rogers. Bella Donna is more Glen Campbell and Kenny Rogers. Not my thing.

BD is not even as good of an album as TISL.

BD, Think About It, and The Highwayman are all snoozers. After the Glitter Fades is good, but with three such droning songs on the album, Glitter sounds like more of the same rather than the gem it was.


I like the other songs though, some of them are iconic and I appreciate the country mood.

Maybe it’s the live segues that have melded the songs in my head, but I think of OTR, Edge and HSML as continuations of each other and I find the trio, different parts of the same story, with the adlibs Stevie has thrown in over the years, exciting and sultry. When I hear them through my speakers, I visualize what they’re like on stage (or what they have been like in her zenith) and the escalating energy and I love them.

Totally agree about the three you call snoozers. Highwayman is one of her all time worst, and I am a Stevie ballad junkie.